Refurbished Motorola DROID 4 (XT894; Verizon) for $35

If you are a developer or like to experiment on older smartphones, among the latest trending deals on eBay you can get the manufacturer refurbished Motorola DROID 4 (XT894) for $35 with free shipping.

This is an older phone, and as the Droid in the name strongly suggests, this is a Verizon phone. Old school specs with Android 2.3, 4-inch screen, 16GB on-board, and things like that. It should go without saying, no contract 🙂 Over 6500 units have been sold through this promotion, with a limit of 50 per customer.

Refurbished Motorola Moto X (XT1060, first gen; Verizon, GSM unlocked) for $100 to $120

It’s good to have choices. Case in point, the first generation Motorola Moto X, of the Verizon kind with its GSM unlocked, model XT1060, is offered in two conditions. For $100, you can get it seller refurbished by eBay seller “mobilepros1” (97.6%) in either black or white. Or for $120, you can get it manufacturer refurbished from the same eBay seller.

As a refresher, this is a Snapdragon S4 Pro phone, with Kitkat and plans for a Lollipop upgrade. It has a 4.7-inch screen and 16GB on-board among other things. There’s plenty written about it. No contract!

LG G Flex 2 (H950, unlocked, no contract) for $290

Start singing Duran Duran’s “The Reflex” because here comes the Flex screen! Among the latest spotlight deals on The eBay, you can get the new condition with one year LG warranty LG G Flex 2 (H950) smartphone (unlocked, 4G LTE, platinum-silver) for $290 with free shipping, no contract, and a limit of five per customer. The eBay seller offering this is QualityCellz (99.2%). Nearly 1000 units sold so far from this listing.

This phone’s claim to fame is of course its curved OLED display and shape. This was a former AT&T phone but it is sold unlocked. It can be upgraded to Android 5.1.1, and features a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 screen. It is powered by the SnapDrogon (ha!) 810 processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB on-board. Despite the curvature, they still managed to squeeze in a microSD slot that eats up to 128GB cards.

So many smartphone temptations these days! And you can put them to work – for $120 you can get the limited time T-Mobile plan (deadline to sign up is 9/8/15) that gets you 10GB per line per month for four lines, with unused data rolling over and smartphone hotspot finally included without annoying restrictions. If nothing else, you can designate one of those four phones/lines as a dedicated hotspot. Perhaps find one with a solid battery life for this task.

Refurbished Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon with GSM unlocked) for $190

Galaxy Note temptation if you are a higher risk shopper and willing to buy seller-refurbished products. The seller-refurbished Samsung Galaxy Note 3, a former Verizon phone with its GSM part unlocked, is offered in either black or white for $190 with free shipping by eBay seller MobilePros1 (97.6%) with a limit of five per customer.

There is no mention of warranty but they offer a 14-day return policy from receipt date. This has 32GB on-board plus micro SD. Check the bands over there if you plan to use it with a GSM provider. No contract – you own it! Around 2000 units of this sold so far according to the eBay statistics as of the time of writing.

With the new Samsung flagship phones moving away from microSD cards, this is another decision point to consider. But again, keep in mind, there’s no warranty and it is seller refurbished, higher risk means lower price. So here we are 🙂

Refurbished Samsung Galaxy S4 for $130 (Verizon with GSM unlocked)

If you are a more adventurous smartphone shopper and you are not afraid to deal with carrier topics or just want a Wifi-only device, you may be interested in this eBay offer: you get the seller-refurbished Samsung Galaxy S4 (model SCH-i545-16GB) in either white or black for $130 with free shipping. This was a Verizon phone with its GSM part unlocked. No contract! The carrier bands are listed over there if you want to make sure it will work with your carrier(s) of choice.

Certified Preowned Samsung Galaxy S3 (with car charger and power bank) for $90 [Freedom Pop]

If you are looking for a former flagship smartphone to use as a Wifi-only device, or if you want a free or low-cost monthly service plan, running on the Sprint 4G LTE network, at the moment, discounter Tanga.com is offering the Freedom Pop version of the Certified-PreOwned Samsung Galaxy S3 for $90 with free shipping, along with a free car charger and a free power bank. This is only available in the white color scheme, with a limit of ten per customer.

This is locked to Freedom Pop in terms of cellular service. If you don’t want cellular, you can use it as Wifi-only. Freedom Pop has a free plan (with limited benefits obviously) and low cost monthly plans. When you activate this, they typically start you with free trials on the for-pay plans, so you have to remember to manually opt-out of the premium services if you don’t want to charged later. There is no contract, so you can change things any time you like. No contract!

New-Other Samsung Alpha G850A (unlocked GSM) for $250

If you are not a gear-condition perfectionist, eBay seller MobilePros1 (97.5%) is offering in “new – other” condition the Samsung Alpha G850A smartphone (32GB, unlocked GSM, former AT&T phone) for $250 with free shipping, in the gold color scheme (the other two sold-out) with a limit of five per customer. No contract – you own it!

Refurbished Galaxy Note III (Verizon) for $200

If you want a Galaxy Note 3 to use Wifi-only or on the Verizon network, and you are comfortable with the increased risk of seller-refurbished smartphones, eBay seller “ChubbiesTech” (98.8%) is offering the seller-refurbished black Samsung Galaxy Note III, model SM-N900V, for $200 with free shipping, with a limit of five per customer. Nearly 600 units sold from this offer so far. Keep in mind, this can only work on Verizon’s cellular network. Or you can use it with Wifi. No contract, you own it! The S-Pen siren’s call 🙂

Certified Preowned Samsung Galaxy S4 (Freedom Pop) for $180 {no contract!}

If you need a Wifi-only smartphone or one to use with a free or low-cost plan, Tanga.com is offering the certified preowned (with 90 day warranty) Samsung Galaxy S4 for $180 with free shipping. You have a choice of black or white. No contract! You can use this as a Wifi-only device or use the free monthly Freedompop plan or one of their low-cost plans.

This is indeed a 4G LTE phone, which is important because the Sprint WiMax (sometimes called just 4G) is going away. More so if you plan to use the cellular portion 🙂

NOTE #1: Upon activation, Freedompop typically gives customer free trials of their for-pay plans and premium services, so if you are not interested in them, make sure you cancel them during the trial period. IF you are not familiar with their approach to freemium, pay attention to the details in your plan page or contact their customer service and instruct them to turn off the premium services.

NOTE #2: this can only be used with FreedomPop cellular-wise. You can still use the Wifi of course regardless.

LG G Flex 2 (H950) Unlocked GSM for $300 [no contract]

The flex is not just an offense basketball coaches at under-talented colleges employ. It is also a smartphone. Which brings us to eBay, where the new condition LG G Flex 2 (model H950), unlocked, in the silver color scheme, is offered for $300 with free shipping, with a limit of five per buyer. The seller is “QualityCellz” (99.2%).

This was a former AT&T phone, but it has been unlocked to work with other compatible GSM providers as well. It comes with Android 5.0 out of the box and it is upgradeable to a newer version. It gets its name from the curved OLED HD display which is the main attraction of this phone. Plus it has a microSD slot that can take up 128GB, something the all new Galaxy S6 cannot do (assuming you want/need a microSD slot).

Refurbished LG G2 (Verizon) for $140 [no contract]

Back to the smartphone deals on eBay, this one is described as a seller-refurbished B+ stock, it is the LG G2 for Verizon, model VS980 with 32GB on-board storage, offered for $140 with free shipping, with a limit of five per customer, in your choice of white or black color scheme. No contract, you own the phone right away. This is locked to Verizon with a clean ESN. That’s partly why the price is lower because you don’t have carrier choices as you would with GSM phones. But if you are planning to use it as a Wifi device, paying less is good 🙂

Refurbished HTC One M8 (unlocked, no contract) for $210

While the previously mentioned $100-ish prices for the HTC One M7 are tempting, if you want/need a microSD memory card, the M8 is a must, and it is among the latest eBay offers! The Seller Refurbished 32GB One M8, factory unlocked with clean ESN, but functional despite scratches and scuffmarks, is offered for $210 with free shipping, in the gray color scheme (the others sold out), by eBay seller “GuaranteeCellular” (98.7%). Limit five per customer. Nearly 1400 units sold from this so far.

As always, keep in mind that seller refurbished is a higher risk than manufacturer refurbished, so if you are a risk averse type of shopper, keep that in mind! No contract, this is a GSM phone.

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact for $390

If you are fond of Sony smartphones, they are not as ready available in the US market as some of their other consumer electronics, but eBay has almost everything, such as the new condition Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, model D5803, factory unlocked, without contract, for $390 with free shipping, in your choice of black or white. The seller is “Techno Trading House” (98.9%). This is an unlocked GSM phone, so you can use it with the usual suspects (Uncarrier, AT&T, Net10, etc). Check the bands to make sure first.

Refurbished Droid Ultra Maxx XT1080M for $115 (Verizon, unlocked GSM)

The Lenovo-Motorola generated some buzz today with a new trio of Moto X and G smartphones, but if you don’t want to wait and pay full price, the good old non-Lenovo Motorola Droid Ultra Maxx XT1080M (Verizon version with unlocked GSM) is offered as Seller Refurbished for $115 with free shipping, with a limit of five per buyer. The seller is GuaranteeCellular (98.7%), and says it comes with a clean ESN and charger. SIM not included for the GSM part. Over 2300 units sold so far from this listing. No contract!

Refurbished HTC One M7 (former Verizon, GSM unlocked) for $100

How low can you go? How about $100? That’s what it takes to get you the seller-refurbished 32GB HTC One M7. This was a Verizon phone that its GSM component has been unlocked for any GSM carrier. The listing says clean ESN and already over 300 units got sold from this particular offer. Limit five per buyer with the silver color being the only one offered. The seller is GuaranteeCellular (98.7%). As usual with seller-refurbished items, the risk is higher, so keep that in mind if you don’t like taking risks or having to return items. No contract!